Fortnums said the sit in by more than 130 people last March had cost it at least £54,000 in lost sales.

But for the year to July the luxury store maintained its turnaround under chief executive Beverley Aspinall to hit £54.9m in sales, up 8pc. Pre-tax profits rose sharply to £1.1m – compared with a loss of £5.9m in 2009.

The Weston family, which owns Fortnums as well as Selfridges, received no dividend. Fortnum’s highest paid director – understood to be Ms Aspinall – was paid £430,000, up 4pc.

UK Uncut targeted the store over allegations that Associated British Foods – which is 55pc owned by the Weston’s Whittington Investments – had avoided £40m in tax. Fortnums paid £342,000 in corporation tax last year. ABF refused to comment.

Ms Aspinall said Fortnums had seen “strong sales growth” across its retail departments and five restaurants. She also said its direct shopping and catalogue arm had “outstanding year”.

She signed off the statement before Fortnums was hit by “IT infrastructure” issues that disrupted its famous Christmas hamper deliveries this year.

Some customers had still not received their orders at the end of the first week of January. “We continue to invest in our new ordering system and ensure that we do not have the same delivery issues that we had this Christmas – excellence of customer service in all aspects of our business is paramount,” she said in a statement today.

Ms Aspinall described moving to a new distribution centre in Cambridgeshire as well as installing new IT systems in 2011 as “challenging”.

She was also “cautious” about prospects in 2012. “Although short term prospects are not as healthy as the previous two years and we remain cautious, our focus is very much on the long term development of Fortnum & Mason,” she said.

The company has launched 60 crested products marking the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, including a £40 Queen Elizabeth Christmas pudding and a biscuit tin that plays the National Anthem.

It plans to hand-deliver picnics to people enjoying the celebrations, and is organising own giant street party to mark the event in June that will see Piccadilly closed between the 304-year-old store and Piccadilly Circus.